Oscars 2018 Host Announced

Jimmy Kimmel is officially returning as the Oscars 2018 host, despite the biggest on-air mistake during this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, which was hosted by Kimmel.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday morning that Jimmy Kimmel is returning as the Oscars host for the ceremony’s 90th edition – to be held on March 4, 2018 – tweeting that “no one can throw a party 90 years in the making like @JimmyKimmel.”

Jimmy Kimmel – the newly announced Oscars 2018 host – threw quite a nerve-racking party while hosting the Oscars 2017 earlier this year. The one-time Oscars host came under fire in February when the biggest controversy of Oscars history erupted during his ceremony.

At the end of the otherwise decently-hosted Oscars 2017, La La Land was mistakenly announced as the winner for best picture, only to be corrected seconds later and the real winner announced, Moonlight.

But it looks like the infamous gaffe did not affect the Academy’s opinion about Jimmy Kimmel’s hosting skills this year, as the late night talk show will be returning to host Oscars 2018 next March – and he’s returning with producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, who helped him put together the 2017 annual ceremony.

Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t contain his excitement over the Academy’s pick revealing the Oscars 2018 host, as he said announcing his return to host Oscars 2018 that “hosting the Oscars was a highlight of my career,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Jimmy Kimmel also couldn’t help but say a few words about what turned out to be the biggest awards flub in history this past February. The Oscars 2018 host teased film enthusiasts who thought “we screwed up the ending this year” to wait and “see what we have planned for the 90th anniversary show.”

Jimmy Kimmel also referred to the infamous gaffe, which saw presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announcing the incorrect winner after being given the wrong envelope at the end of the ceremony, in his tweet on Tuesday, shortly after the news of Oscars 2018 host went viral.

Thanks to @TheAcademy for asking me to host The #Oscars again (assuming I opened the right envelope)

Jimmy Kimmel as the Oscars host in 2017 didn’t help the annual awards ceremony to reverse it’s continuing downward ratings trend. Viewership for the ABC’s telecast has been plummeting for three years straight, with Kimmel hosting the Oscars 2017 ceremony attracting only 32.9 million viewers, a four percent drop from the 2015 ceremony.

But the Academy and ABC are apparently hopeful that Jimmy Kimmel returning to host the Oscars 2018 could finally put an end to the upsetting trend when he steps out on the stage of the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood on March 4, 2018, to hold the 90th Oscars ceremony.

The event will be televised live on ABC.

In fact, this year’s infamous gaffe with announcing the wrong winner could actually play into the hands of Oscars 2018 ratings, as people would likely tune in to see Jimmy Kimmel – as the Oscars 2018 host – joke about the biggest flub in the history of the awards that occurred on his watch as Oscars host.

This will be the second time Jimmy Kimmel will have served as the Oscars host. The newly announced Oscars 2018 host has previously hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2012 and 2016, and currently serves as the host and executive producer of his ABC late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Besides being eager to see Jimmy Kimmel return as the Oscars 2018 host, the Academy wants ABC – the home to Kimmel’s talk show – to broadcast the annual awards ceremony through 2028.